title: Single-molecule imaging revealed enhanced dimerization of transforming growth factor β type II receptors in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes.
abstract: Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy. However, the molecular mechanism of TGF-β signaling during the process of cardiac remodeling remains poorly understood. In the present study, by employing single-molecule fluorescence imaging approach, we demonstrated that in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, TGF-β type II receptors (TβRII) existed as monomers at the low expression level, and dimerized upon TGF-β1 stimulation. Importantly, for the first time, we found the increased dimerization of TβRII in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes comparing to the normal cardiomyocytes. The enhanced TβRII dimerization was correlated with the enhanced Smad3 phosphorylation levels. These results provide new information on the mechanism of TGF-β signaling in cardiac remodeling.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructures and Nanotechnology, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China.
authors.forename: Kangmin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yongnan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jinghe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Zijian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhizhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Youyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000378:metabolism*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D000077294:Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type II; D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D051900:Smad3 Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta; D051900:Smad3 Protein; C497787:Smad3 protein, rat; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D000077294:Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type II